Becker's Dental + DSO Review

24 BECKER'S DENTAL + DSO REVIEW // VOL. 2022 NO. 2 THOUGHT LEADERSHIP Dental hygienists joined the Great Resignation — why aren't they coming back? By Ariana Portalatin T he COVID-19 pandemic saw the beginning of the Great Resigna- tion, with dental hygienists repre- senting one of the largest exoduses in the dental industry. But even as the pandem- ic wanes, few hygienists have returned to the field. COVID-19 exacerbated a voluntary re- duction in the workforce by 3,300 dental hygienists, or 1.6 percent, as of August 2021, according to a February study pub- lished in The Journal of Dental Hygiene. Less than half of those who left employ- ment early in the pandemic had returned to the workforce by August 2021. Dental hygienists have continued to be one of the most recruited for roles at dental offices during the pandemic, with 33.1 percent of dental practices recruit- ing dental hygienists in March alone, ac- cording to a poll from the American Den- tal Association. Here, 17 dental practitioners share with Becker's reasons why dental hygienists left the field and why they aren't returning: Editor's note: Responses were lightly edit- ed for clarity and length. Harvey Lee, DDS. Chief Clinical Officer at Virtual Dental Care: I think the big- gest driving factor was the vast amount of hygienist furloughs and layoffs during the COVID-19 shut down. Few practices remained open, and even the ones that did for emergencies were still operating for limited hours. My guess is that many dental hygienists decided to pivot their careers to hedge for any future pan- demic-related problems that may arise. We are seeing more dental hygienists starting their own mobile dental hygiene practices using our cloud-based software, Teledentix. By starting a mobile business, hygienists can build their own patient base and partner with organizations to expand their footprint outside a tradition- al dental office setting using teledentistry and mobile dental delivery models. Practices are experiencing challenges in recruitment simply because of a sup- ply and demand problem. With fewer hygienists in the workforce, practices need to increase compensation and work flexibility to attract their clinical staff. But considering so many dental offices are still recovering from the financial impact of the shutdowns, it's causing significant issues for how they are able to pay for the increased wages we are seeing for den- tal hygienists. Susan Fredericks, DDS. Southern Cal Smiles (Woodland Hills, Calif.): Dental front line help, assistants and hygienists dropped out of the workforce, either due to age and health issues surrounding their own health or that of family mem- bers, or left due to having younger chil- dren to care for. Prior to COVID-19, surveys of dental hy- gienists often cited not feeling valued or respected as one of the primary reasons they would seek a different occupation. Burnout and feelings of frustration have only gotten worse, as the percentages of patients canceling their appointments a few days before or same day remains much higher than pre-COVID-19. The lack of respect for the service they pro- vide and the care they have for oral health seems to be surrounded by a dis- missive attitude, even from long-stand- ing patients. It is demoralizing to these healthcare workers. The pandemic has had a significant ef- fect on the U.S. labor market, particular- ly among women. A variety of factors, including school and daycare closures, the unequal burden of caring for aging parents and risk of infection being higher in female-dominated occupations have caused a major exit of women from the labor force overall. These effects could be long lasting, persisting even after the pandemic comes under control. Dental hygiene has been well documented as a female-dominated profession; they are 94 percent of the workforce. Even with significant pay raises, dental offices are still having issues attracting hygiene staff. It is likely that this short- age will persist for some years. The Great Resignation has been significant with hygienists. Higher salaries and more flexible work schedules may not entice many to come back. Rajdeep Randhawa, DDS. Innovative Dentistry (Colts Neck, N.J.): Long- stretched uncertainty compounded by COVID-19 stress and burnout in high-volume, high-stress offices and DSOs where the whole compensation system is production and incentive based with having very high expecta- tions from dental hygienists. That is the reason why, while burning out their army of hygienists during the COVID-19 time frame, they are now not only vigorous- ly trying to recruit them but also trying to keep them by talking about work-life balance after still burning them out on a daily basis. Dental practices are still struck with very old outdated business models of recruit- ing, compensating and retaining dental hygienists that do not work in the cur- rent work and business environment, and they are dealing with a very smart group of individuals who understand ev- erything and feel the system is not fair to them as their compensation is very low as compared to the hard work and risk they take in the current COVID-19 envi- ronment. Dental practices that have lost the trust of the hygienists have to work very hard to gain their trust back, and may never get it back, as the same hy- gienists that used to motivate the young- er generation to get into dental hygiene may tell them it is not worth it. Laurence Stone, DDS. Doylestown (Pa.) Dental Solutions: There are many reasons why dental hygienists may be leaving the workforce, including the COVID-19 pandemic, inadequate pay, difficult working conditions and the ex- pansion of dental franchises, corporate practices and DSOs. Dental practices are experiencing difficulty in recruiting dental hygienists for some of the same reasons and, depending on your loca- tion, the inadequate number of dental hygiene training programs. Michael Davis, DDS. Smiles of Santa Fe (N.M.): Firstly, fees for dental services,

• Cover